


What It Means To Care

by AstridMyrna



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Cramps, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Menstruation, Periods in Spaaaaaace, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 12:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18261182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridMyrna/pseuds/AstridMyrna
Summary: After a successful intel mission, Jyn and Cassian fly back to base, but Jyn experiences an inconvenient period.





	What It Means To Care

Jyn had felt oddly heavy that morning as she and Cassian left their tiny apartment they had stayed in for the last month in Cloud City, pretending to be tourists while gathering intel. She squeezed Cassian’s hand as she tried to take in every bit of the ethereal beauty of the city cloaked with gilded clouds, and he squeezed back. Hopefully they could come back as actual tourists, but she packed that dream away.

Once they reached the docks and approached their light cruiser that had seen better days, she felt a pinch in her crotch and the heaviness flooded away. She let out a little sigh of relief as they climbed up the ramp into the tiny ship. Not for the first time she was glad Cassian convinced K-2SO to stay on base as she trudged down the narrow hallway and into the ’fresher that was barely big enough for her to turn around in.

“Ugh,” she grunted when she pulled her pants down and saw the rusty brown beginnings of her period in her underwear. 

She knew she had her cup in her duffle bag, but it was all the way on her bunk with her clean underwear, and now her thighs were starting to cramp up--

Cassian softly knocked twice on the ’fresher door.

“Ship’s ready to go,” he said. “You okay in there?”

“Period started,” she blurted and instantly regretted it.

They had been practically inseparable since Scarif, sharing his quarters on base or a bunk on a mission, sharing dreams of the future and nightmares from the past, and even if they didn’t know everything about each other yet, she hoped that they would be able to stay together long enough to want to share each other’s secrets. Her having periods wasn’t exactly a secret, she just never announced it to him before. To anyone, now that she thought about it.

“Do you need anything?” Cassian asked gently.

“Um...my duffle bag has what I need. You can just bring that.”

“Be back in a minute.”

He came back so fast that Jyn had just unlocked the door when he knocked on it again.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the bag. “Won’t be more than a minute.”

He nodded and headed to the cockpit. Jyn quickly cleaned herself up, inserted her reusable cup, and took a swig of her canteen before finally leaving the bathroom. Cassian looked over her when she finally joined him at the cockpit, like he was expecting to find other bleeding wounds. 

She caught his hard gaze and watched it melt. “Ready to go home?”

He smiled as he pulled his headphones up. “Ready when you are, Jyn.”

“Let’s go then.”

Jyn sank into her chair and sipped her water, trying to ignore the twinges in her abdomen. She thought of their cold, but slightly more spacious quarters on Hoth, with a bed meant for one person that they made for two. Jyn had splurged on a gorgeous blanket that looked like the sunrise on Bespin, but was incredibly thick and warm. Cassian had spent his money on more practical things like tea and spices that wouldn’t be missed in case of an emergency evacuation, but given his secret sweet tooth she wouldn’t have been surprised if he bought something less practical.

Her eyes snapped open when they hit hyperspace and the first cramp ripped through her gut.

“Fuck,” she gasped, clutching her stomach.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just cramps. I need to drink more water and it’ll go away.”

She finished her water and waddled to the ’fresher. Her brief moment of relief was punctured by another cramp, this one clamping down tighter than the other one. She hugged herself as she started to rock, praying that it would end soon.

“Jyn?” Cassian asked after he knocked. “You okay?”

“It’ll be fine,” she huffed, then bit down on her lip to stop the groan rising in her throat.

“Do you need anything?”

Her spine throbbed in time with her rocking. She had been stupid and took her duffle bag out again, but it didn’t have the painkillers she needed. That was in the medkit, and since she was stuck on the toilet, Cassian would have to get them.  Painkillers meant that the pain would end soon, but then Cassian would have to see her struggling like an overturned turtle. 

“I can bring more water,” he said.

“And the painkillers.”

Jyn thought Cassian had left, but then he asked, “Which ones?”

“Just bring the medkit.”

Even though they had painkillers that could make her whole body numb, she decided on a much lower dosage that took longer to set in. They still made her feel sleepy. She swayed as she cleaned herself up again, then pulled her pants back up and stumbled out of the ’fresher right into Cassian. Normally she would take a step back and laugh about how cramped it was, but she pressed her face against his light brown shirt. There was still the citrusy scent of the soap they used in their small motel. His warmth radiated from the thin fabric of his civvie clothes he wore on Bespin.  

“It usually doesn’t hurt this bad,” she said as his arm wrapped around her, holding her up.

“The meds should kick in soon.”

“Not soon enough. Is there a hot water bottle or compress or something? I couldn’t find it.”

She almost hoped that there wasn’t, because she didn’t want to move away from him. His fingers wrapped around hers still holding the medkit and gently pried it away.

“I can go look for it, but you should lie down first.”

“I should,” she said, nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

“Do you need help to your bed?”

“No, I just need another minute, if that’s okay.”

He hugged her a little tighter. “It’s okay.”

It was nice, having someone to hold onto when she was hurting. She wasn’t used to it (it wasn’t safe before, but he made her feel safe). She sighed and let herself lean into his strong, solid frame while her cramp unwound itself and left her abs sore.

Jyn side stepped away from him and shuffled over to their bed, already missing his heat. She crumpled on the thin mattress and tightened herself up into a tight ball as a new cramp wound itself up again. She tried to breathe through it, but her breath came out ragged between her teeth as a new pain stabbed her in her lower back. The pain had webbed down into her thighs and seized into her muscle when Cassian finally returned, cracking a long compress between his hands.

“It’ll take a moment to heat up,” he said as he gave it to her.

She grunted out a thanks as she shoved the compress down her trousers. When it got too hot she’d take it out again, but she needed to burn this pain out  _ now _ . Her stomach flattened felt like she had been punched and needed to throw up, but she snapped her mouth shut. Cassian hovered over her, hand outstretched but trembling as if he was afraid to touch her. 

“Where else does it hurt?”

“Stomach, thighs, my fucking back,” she whimpered.

He lowered his hand towards her back.  “Is it okay if I…?”

“Please.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, her knees curling around him, and pulled out the back of her shirt so he could massage her back. His fingers slowly kneaded her skin at the middle of her back until she told him to go lower. She shivered when his hand reached her tailbone, and her mind was split between his touch and her pain.

“As soon as we land, we’ll go to the medbay,” he murmured.

“They’ll pass by then. It’s going to hurt now.”

She shouldn’t have said that, but it was too late. His eyes skimmed over her body again with renewed concerned, his frown cutting deep in his weary face. 

“Well, let me know what you need and I’ll get it for you,” he said.

“You’re actually doing a good job right now, but if you could use your knuckle and  _ dig _ \--y-yes, like that.”

His frown twitched almost into a smile as he rolled his knuckles against her spine and she groaned with relief. The pressure gave her something else to focus on instead of the pain that ebbed away the deeper he dug into her. He pressed so hard that she rocked into his knee, but she closed her eyes and whispered to him to keep going.

Eventually he stopped and stroked up and down her back, but she didn’t complain. The meds had finally kicked in and she was exhausted. She nearly fell over the edge into sleep when the bed shifted as Cassian stood up.

She opened her eyes and croaked, “Don't…”

He sat back down on the bed again and cupped her shoulder with a loose hand.

“I'm checking the control panels and then making something for your stomach.”

“Like tea?”

“Tisane.”

She squinted at him, because most of the tisanes he bought were too floral for her taste.

“What kind?”

“Cinnamon bark, nuts, and dried apple. It’s a little sweet but the spice in it should help your stomach.”

She tried to imagine tasting it herself, but decided it was worth a try. 

“Okay, you can leave then.” 

He kissed her temple before he left, and Jyn dozed as she waited for him to return. She opened her eyes again when she heard his soft footsteps against the durasteel floor and the scent of cinnamon perfumed the stale air. When he handed her the steaming mug, he nudged her to sit up so he could take off her boots. 

“How do you like it?” Cassian asked her as he unlaced the first boot in his lap.

Jyn took in another sip. “It tastes like drinking pie.”

He snorted a laugh. “I can make you something else--”

“No, I like it. Better than what you got last time.”

“The one that tasted like ‘piss-soaked roses’?”

“Even Chirrut wouldn’t drink it. He’ll drink this one.”

He grinned as he gently pried her boot off. “I better hide it, then.”

She sipped her tea as Cassian finished his work and pulled the thin sheet over her legs. Even with the tisane and the hot compress (now off her skin and laying across her clothed, bloated thighs), the cabin was still cold. 

“Cassian, could you bring me one more thing, please?” she asked softly.

Cassian brought out the golden blanket and draped it over her shoulders, and he laughed when she tugged his shirt to get him in bed with her. Soon they were sitting up and pressed against each other to fit on the bed, the covers pulled up to their waists and half of the blanket hanging onto Cassian’s shoulder because Jyn insisted. She curled a foot around his ankle and rested her head on his chest, feeling satisfied and safe in the little nook he built for her. 

She yawned and asked, “When do you have to check the control panel again?”

“In about four hours, when we have to change lanes,” he said, his breath fluttering through her hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thank you. You’re very good at taking care of me.”

“I tried.”

There was a hint of uneasiness in his voice, so she looked up at him and asked, “Really? You seemed like you knew what you were doing. I thought you’ve had to handle this sort of...issue before with someone else.”

His cheeks flushed, he smiled as he shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I haven’t. I’ve never done this before, and I figured you knew best how to make yourself better.”

Jyn felt her face go hot too. “You’re right. I’ve never had someone take care of me like this. I’d just find a corner and wait until it was over.”

Cassian watched her with those soft eyes, his frown a small, tight curve in his face. 

“I mean, it’s not like I was the only one that got ignored,” she continued, looking down at her hand enveloped in his. “So thank you for trying. It did help.”

He kissed the crown of her hair, and she could feel his smile.  He hugged her tighter against his side and she tucked her head underneath his chin. Something in her abdomen quivered and she matched her breathing with his until the discomfort faded away. 


End file.
